Amaze Announces Expanded Partnership with Contend to Scale the Next Generation of Creator-Led Commerce
Rhea-AI Summary
Amaze (NYSE American: AMZE) announced an expanded strategic partnership with creative studio Contend to scale creator-led commerce via integrated storytelling and fulfillment.
The partnership elevates Contend from advisor to full integration, combining Contend’s content-first launch expertise with Amaze’s global commerce operations to deliver end-to-end launch strategy, shoppable formats, timed drops, AR activations, and global fulfillment. A slate of creator- and brand-led launches is planned throughout 2026.
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Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
AMZE gained 20.74% while peers were mixed: WVVI -1.45%, WVVIP 0.33%, YHC 1.5%, BLNE 4.06%, IBG 8.42%. The move appears stock-specific rather than a broad sector rotation.
Previous Partnership Reports
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 13 | Music platform partnership | Positive | -10.4% | Jedari deal embedding Amaze Moments AI into musician storefronts. |
| Nov 11 | Design tools partnership | Positive | +7.9% | Adobe Express integration expansion targeting India’s creator market. |
| Oct 30 | Metaverse expansion deal | Positive | -7.1% | Dubit partnership for 3D storefronts in Roblox and Fortnite ecosystems. |
| Sep 09 | Manufacturing partnership | Positive | +22.8% | Digital Brands Group collaboration to boost U.S. apparel production. |
| Aug 11 | Platform & investment deal | Positive | -20.7% | Parler integration plus <b>$6M</b> above‑market equity investment terms. |
Partnership headlines have produced mixed reactions, with both double-digit gains and losses, suggesting investors evaluate each deal’s specifics rather than reacting uniformly to the category.
This announcement continues Amaze’s pattern of using partnerships to expand creator commerce capabilities. Earlier deals with Parler Cloud, Digital Brands Group, Dubit, Adobe Express, and Jedari targeted social distribution, domestic manufacturing, metaverse storefronts, design tools, and music platforms. Market reactions were volatile, with some collaborations (e.g., Digital Brands Group on Sep 9, 2025) seeing strong gains, while others, including the Parler investment on Aug 11, 2025, drew sharp declines. Today’s Contend partnership fits this strategic push to deepen creator-led commerce and brand reach.
Historical Comparison
In the past 12 months, Amaze released 5 partnership updates with an average move of 13.77%. Today’s 20.74% gain on the Contend expansion sits toward the upper end of that historical range.
Recent partnerships have progressively broadened Amaze’s ecosystem: from social and streaming platforms to metaverse storefronts, manufacturing, design tools, and now integrated creative studio support for creator-led commerce.
Market Pulse Summary
This announcement expands Amaze’s longstanding relationship with Contend into a fully integrated partnership focused on creator-led commerce, combining creative studio capabilities with global fulfillment. It follows a series of alliances across social platforms, design tools, and manufacturing aimed at driving 2026 GMV and revenue targets. Investors may watch execution on upcoming campaigns, any impact on gross merchandise value, and how this fits alongside recent financing moves described in ATM and convertible note filings.
Key Terms
livestream shopping technical
gross merchandise value financial
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
Collaboration Elevates Longstanding Advisory Relationship, Blending Creative Studio Expertise with Global Commerce Capabilities for High-Conversion Product Launches
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Jan. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amaze Holdings, Inc. (NYSE American: AMZE) (“Amaze”) a global leader in creator-powered commerce, today announced an expanded strategic partnership with Contend, the creative studio behind innovative, high-impact brand launches for global audiences. The collaboration formalizes and elevates Contend’s existing role as a strategy advisor to Amaze, expanding the relationship into a fully integrated partnership focused on scaling creator-led commerce through immersive storytelling and integrated fulfillment.
Building on a successful advisory relationship, Amaze and Contend will now partner to shape Amaze’s brand campaigns and go-to-market strategies, ensuring how the platform is positioned and marketed delivers maximum value to creators. The expanded partnership brings together Contend’s proven ability to turn culture into measurable demand with Amaze’s global commerce platform. This will enable creators and brands to launch products that seamlessly connect content, community, and conversation. Contend has helped leading brands—including Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Apple TV+, and Ticketmaster—build audience-first formats that drive measurable business outcomes.
Throughout 2026, Amaze and Contend plan to roll out a slate of creator- and brand-led commerce launches across food, culture, entertainment, and lifestyle, anchored by larger platform activations.
What the Partnership Delivers
Through Amaze and Contend’s partnership, creators and brands gain access to:
- End-to-end launch strategy and execution
- Innovative video, live, and shoppable content formats
- Creator-led auctions, timed drops, and livestream shopping
- Immersive experiences, including AR activations and real-world unlocks
- Global fulfillment and commerce operations powered by Amaze
“Our mission at Amaze is to help creators build real, durable businesses,” said Aaron Day, CEO of Amaze. “Contend has been a trusted advisor to Amaze and has consistently demonstrated an ability to turn storytelling into demand. Together, we’re building a scalable model that drives engagement and revenue at global scale.”
“At Contend, we believe content should be built with an endgame, starting with what people already care about and translating that attention into real action by expanding access to the things they love,” said Steven Amato, Founder and CEO of Contend. “Expanding our partnership with Amaze allows us to bring that philosophy to life at scale.”
Strategic and Investor Impact
For Amaze, the partnership strengthens how it brings its platform to market by deepening creator relationships, expanding brand partnerships, and driving gross merchandise value through clearer positioning, stronger demand, and more effective product launches. For Contend, it extends a proven storytelling and commerce model into an always-on platform environment designed for scale.
For investor information, please contact IR@amaze.co
For press inquiries, please contact PR@amaze.co
About Amaze:
Amaze Holdings, Inc. is an end-to-end, creator-powered commerce platform offering tools for seamless product creation, advanced e-commerce solutions, and scalable managed services. By empowering anyone to “sell anything, anywhere,” Amaze enables creators to tell their stories, cultivate deeper audience connections, and generate sustainable income through shoppable, authentic experiences. Discover more at www.amaze.co.
About Contend:
Contend is a creative innovation studio specializing in cross-platform storytelling, format creation, and content-driven growth for brands, media companies, and creators. Contend helps partners turn culture into measurable business outcomes. Learn more at www.contendco.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). These statements relate to future events and developments or to our future operating or financial performance, are subject to risks and uncertainties and are based on estimates and assumptions. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about our planned acquisitions, partnerships, strategies, initiatives, growth, revenues, expenditures, the size of our market, our plans and objectives for future operations, and future financial and business performance. These statements can be identified by words such as such as “may,” “might,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or “continue,” and are based our current expectations and views concerning future events and developments and their potential effects on us.
These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or otherwise implied by the forward-looking statement. These risks include: our ability to execute our plans and strategies; our limited operating history and history of losses; our financial position and need for additional capital; our ability to attract and retain our creator base and expand the range of products available for sale; we may experience difficulties in managing our growth and expenses; we may not keep pace with technological advances; there may be undetected errors or defects in our software or issues related to data computing, processing or storage; our reliance on third parties to provide key services for our business, including cloud hosting, marketing platforms, payment providers and network providers; failure to maintain or enhance our brand; our ability to protect our intellectual property; significant interruptions, delays or outages in services from our platform; significant data breach or disruption of the information technology systems or networks and cyberattacks; risks associated with international operations; general economic and competitive factors affecting our business generally; changes in laws and regulations, including those related to privacy, online liability, consumer protection, and financial services; our dependence on senior management and other key personnel; and our ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel and senior management.
Additional risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements are included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other future filings and reports that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from time to time. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Also, these forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of the press release. Unless required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information or future events or developments.
FAQ
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